JAPN 402: Japanese Literature (Spring 2014)
Course Description:
This course aims to develop advanced proficiency through introducing various aspects of modern Japanese literature, including short stories and significant works by authors of the modern period. Taught in Japanese.
Reflective Narrative:
This course fulfills MLO 2 as we studied many pieces of literature, which is considered a product of culture. In the beginning section of the course, we studied Japanese poetry including haikus. I was able to deepen my knowledge on this aspect, as we learned not only about the structure of haikus, but also the deeper meanings behind them. For example, we studied many pieces from a famous poet, Matsuo Basho, and his style of writing which illustrates the contrast between reality and imagination. When I initially read his works, I could not grasp the meaning of them since they are short and simply written. This class taught me to think deeper and read underneath the surface to grasp the hidden meaning, and so I was able to achieve a greater appreciation for haikus. I was also able to put my learning to use by creating my own haikus and poems. After we studied the structures (e.g. 5-7- stanzas, using seasonal words, etc.) of haikus and others styles of poetry, we had the chance to practice our own writing skills with many poem writing assignments. For example, we wrote a poem in the style of 5W1H, meaning it includes 5 W’s (Who, What, When, Where, and Why), and 1 H (How). You can view mine by clicking here. This was one of my favorite assignments of the class, and it made me interested in writing more poetry.
After studying poetry, we transitioned into short stories, and studied works of different authors such as Yoshimoto Banana and Murakami Haruki. We learned their different writing styles and the themes utilized in each story; themes like the contrast between dark and light, good and bad, and trust and suspicion of others. We once again learned to analyze the deeper meaning of the works and related it to our own lives. I was able to do so especially in my book report on A Small Darkness, which can be viewed here. The assignments in this class really got me to think in a more critical way when reading literature, and thus helped to expand my understanding on the topic.
This course aims to develop advanced proficiency through introducing various aspects of modern Japanese literature, including short stories and significant works by authors of the modern period. Taught in Japanese.
Reflective Narrative:
This course fulfills MLO 2 as we studied many pieces of literature, which is considered a product of culture. In the beginning section of the course, we studied Japanese poetry including haikus. I was able to deepen my knowledge on this aspect, as we learned not only about the structure of haikus, but also the deeper meanings behind them. For example, we studied many pieces from a famous poet, Matsuo Basho, and his style of writing which illustrates the contrast between reality and imagination. When I initially read his works, I could not grasp the meaning of them since they are short and simply written. This class taught me to think deeper and read underneath the surface to grasp the hidden meaning, and so I was able to achieve a greater appreciation for haikus. I was also able to put my learning to use by creating my own haikus and poems. After we studied the structures (e.g. 5-7- stanzas, using seasonal words, etc.) of haikus and others styles of poetry, we had the chance to practice our own writing skills with many poem writing assignments. For example, we wrote a poem in the style of 5W1H, meaning it includes 5 W’s (Who, What, When, Where, and Why), and 1 H (How). You can view mine by clicking here. This was one of my favorite assignments of the class, and it made me interested in writing more poetry.
After studying poetry, we transitioned into short stories, and studied works of different authors such as Yoshimoto Banana and Murakami Haruki. We learned their different writing styles and the themes utilized in each story; themes like the contrast between dark and light, good and bad, and trust and suspicion of others. We once again learned to analyze the deeper meaning of the works and related it to our own lives. I was able to do so especially in my book report on A Small Darkness, which can be viewed here. The assignments in this class really got me to think in a more critical way when reading literature, and thus helped to expand my understanding on the topic.